Targeted cold for hot, swollen, or freshly irritated tissue. Not a walk-in freeze chamber.
The word
Cryotherapy is often advertised as chambers, robes, and short exposures of the whole body. That is a different service. Levitt Chiropractic Center uses cold on the region that is hot, swollen, or freshly strained. The tool is an ice pack or a similar local application, applied in the visit and explained for home. A spa chamber is not what we offer.
The practical reasons are straightforward: swelling and inflammation come down, acute pain is easier to tolerate, and the area can settle enough that other care is possible. It is drug-free. It is not a recovery promise. A numb patch of skin is a sensation, not proof that the problem is gone.
Dr. Levitt works at 6200 Excelsior Blvd, Suite 201, Saint Louis Park, MN 55416. The phone is 952-920-7535. He has practiced since 1987 and at this office since 1999. Cold is one item he can add. It is not the identity of the practice.
Timing
Four situations. If yours is not on the list, ask before you ice through a warning sign.
Tissue that is hot, puffy, or angry often gets cold before it gets anything else. That window is measured in days, not in a lifestyle.
A back or neck that is usually mechanical can still have a hot day. Cold is for that day. It does not become the permanent plan.
Ice is often used on the same visit as an adjustment or laser, on the region that was actually treated, not as a full-body finish.
Poor circulation, numbness you cannot feel, broken skin, and a joint that looks infected are reasons to skip ice. We will say so.
Beside other care
An adjustment restores motion at a joint. Cold does not. On a day when the tissue is too irritable for a fast contact, ice may be the visit, and Torque Release or no thrust at all may be the judgment. Read adjustments for the techniques. Do not expect cold to substitute for that decision.
Cold laser therapy is light, not temperature. People mix them up because both are called “cold.” Laser does not chill the skin. Ice does. If you want the flashlight-sized device, that is the cold laser . Booking cryotherapy when you meant laser wastes the first visit on vocabulary.
Back pain, neck pain, and a fresh sports strain can all be reasons to ice a region. The condition itself explains the problem. The explanation here is the cold itself. A fever with back pain, a joint that is red and you cannot bear weight, or pain after major trauma that has not been screened are not ice problems. Get medical care first.
At home
You will be told where it goes, how long, and what to put between the cold and the skin. The in-office range we use as a starting point is 15 to 20 minutes on the region. Longer is not braver. Sleeping on a pack is a common way to damage skin. If you cannot feel the area, do not ice it until someone who can see the skin has signed off.
The step-by-step home version is written on ice pack cryotherapy. Use that explanation for technique. Use the visit to decide whether cold belongs at all. Book through the new-patient form if you have not been seen. There is no chamber fee and no pack price listed in advance.
A limit
Swelling that is down tomorrow can be back if the load returns. That is not a failure of the pack. It is a sign the plan still needs the joint, the exercise, or a physician. We stop recommending ice when the area is no longer in that irritable window, even if icing has become a habit.
On day one of a sprain, cold may be the main thing we do. On day four, if the puffiness is down and the joint will tolerate motion, cold becomes the thing you use after you overdo the walk, not the thing the visit is about. People who ice on a schedule forever have usually lost the plot. The plot was to calm the tissue so something else could happen.
Circulation is the contraindication people skip. If your hands or feet are already cold, pale, and poorly perfused, adding a pack because a teammate does it is a bad imitation. Raynaud-type color changes, a wound, and numbness from neuropathy are reasons we decline. You do not have to know the diagnosis. Describe the color and the feeling. We would rather skip cold than explain a skin damage later.
Same-day pairing is common and still selective. Ice after a contact that stirred a hot joint is reasonable. Ice on a neck that is only stiff from a pillow, with no heat and no swelling, may be unnecessary. Laser and cold are not a combo meal. If both are used, each one needs its own reason, said out loud.
Athletes sometimes ask for cold before they play. Numbing a joint so you can finish a game is not a service we provide. If you need the area numb to perform, you are not ready to perform. That conversation is more useful than a colder pack.
After the hot window closes, people still ask for cold because it is familiar. Familiar is not an indication. If the area is no longer swollen and the limit is stiffness, the next tool is usually movement, which is therapeutic exercise, or a joint contact, which is an adjustment. Keeping cold in the plan “just in case” fills time. We would rather end it. You can always restart a pack for a new flare without making cold the identity of your care. If you are comparing this visit with a spa you saw advertised, compare the goal too. Theirs is often a whole body in a cold room for a few minutes. Ours is one region, long enough to calm it, then done. Those are not interchangeable appointments, and booking the wrong one helps neither of us.
Questions
Mostly to separate this office from a cryotherapy spa.
No. Cryotherapy is often pictured as a spa chamber. This office uses targeted cold on the area that needs it. How to use the pack is covered with ice pack cryotherapy. We do not offer a whole-body chamber, and we do not quote a chamber temperature or a chamber session length.
This visit decides when cold belongs in a chiropractic plan, and when it does not. Ice pack care covers placement, time, and home use. Read both if you want the full picture. They are not two products.
In-office cold on a region is described as usually 15 to 20 minutes. That is a guide, not a dare. Numb skin, a wrap that is too tight, or a pack straight on unprotected skin is how people get hurt. You leave with instructions that respect the skin.
Ice is generally the better first choice in the first 48 to 72 hours after a new strain or sprain, when the area is still irritable. After that, the choice depends on the exam. Heat on a hot, swollen joint is often the wrong experiment.
No. Cold turns down an angry area. It does not move a stuck joint, and it does not clear a fracture, a fever, or a nerve that is failing. Those still need the right exam.
Read next
Pick the condition if you are unsure which tool you need.
Address
6200 Excelsior Blvd, Suite 201
Saint Louis Park, MN 55416
Phone
952-920-7535Hours
